March Madness
by SogniDoroBella
Summary: Once Upon a Kindergarten series- in response to the Zimbio March Madness couples voting, Bitty Belle has feelings about it. And we know she always speaks her mind. Let's spread some inter-fandom love, people!


_So the Zimbio March Madness couples challenge is between Rumbelle & Faberry for the rest of this Round 3 (you can still vote up til midnight). Not so nice things have been said about other fandoms, and I just wish everyone could keep it classy. Don't tag your hate, let's all just get along in the sandbox without anyone needing to throw sand. Thanks to 17 for the Rum as a dealer suggestion :)_

_Vote at: __ brackets/TV+Couples+March+Madness+2013_

Belle wasn't even sure how it had all started, only that she hadn't signed up for anything. When she first heard that her name was paired with Rum's, she hadn't thought much of it. They were friends, and they _like_-liked each other. If other people thought it was interesting or curious, what did she care?

But then she heard something about voting, and kids were choosing sides. And while at first that was fun, now it wasn't. At lunch she heard kids talking about voting, about how close the race was. As they ran for the play castle with its long tube slide, Belle tried to keep up with Ruby's fast pace as she asked, "What's Rumbelle?"

"_You_ are," Mary Margaret answered in surprise, her foot catching on a little rut in the yard before she caught herself.

"I'm _Belle_," Belle reminded her patiently. "I mean, just Belle. Or Belle French."

"No, I mean, yes," Mary Margaret said, shaking her head a little. "You and Rum together, they kinda like smashed your name with his, and it's _Rumbelle_ which is you and him."

"Oh," Belle replied, nodding a little. As they caught up with Ruby, who was standing in line for the slide, she braved her second question. "But… what's _Faberry_? Or maybe _who_ is it?"

"Those are the other kids, girls at another school. They're in the voting, too. Against you and Rum," Mary Margaret supplied this answer, too, as they each climbed up one more step in their wait.

She scrunched up her brow in thought, looking around at the other kids playing but not really seeing them. "But… are they nice?"

When Mary Margaret only shrugged, Ruby was quick to cut in. "Quinn has a really cool lion like my wolf. She was a lion last hall'ween, and she waved at me and said she liked my costume. Sometimes I see her at the park."

"Quinn?" Belle was lost again as they each gained another step.

"Quinn Fabray and Rachel … something ends with 'erry,'" one of the bigger girls in line answered. "We told everyone to vote for you and Rum 'cause you're the only kids at our school still in it, and they're dumb."

Sharp blue eyes narrowed suspiciously as she glanced back at her friends. "They're not really _dumb_, are they? Are they mean or something?"

Both girls shrugged. "Like I said, Quinn's kinda nice, but we didn't really play a lot together," Ruby admitted as the kid in front of her took his turn down the slide.

"But… why are people saying they're mean or dumb if they might not be?" Belle asked, chewing her bottom lip as she tried to think it through. "Some kids are saying they don't mean anything, like they're not important or not really friends, and lots of other really mean things."

"We voted for you 'cause you the ones left from our school," the older girl behind her piped up. "And those _Faberry_ girls aren't, like, even really friends. They used to be really mean to each other, and they just—"

"That's mean!" Belle protested, stamping her foot in protest and making Mary Margaret squeak in surprise. "And you shouldn't say mean things. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Even my mummy taught me that!"

Ruby had already disappeared down the long plastic tunnel, so Belle took her turn now, curving around and around before she spotted the gravel and managed to get her feet ready so she wouldn't tumble off the end and get dirty. With a bounce, she was on her feet and running to the spot under the first two platforms to the slide.

It was Rum's place to be during recess. Belle knew he didn't think she knew about it, but she did. Everybody knew. He had a special collection of things—rub on tattoos, those bendy bracelets back when they were new and a novelty, candy and any mix of rare and treasured treats that were usually forbidden. Only two people had snitched on him, kids who didn't like getting their end of a deal. One kid had moved not long after, some kids said he went to a different school now. The other was generally shunned, even now and months later, for tattling.

Teachers had tried to find his stash, but even Belle didn't know where he kept it. Nor did she care, 'specially not now.

"Ah, that's the rate take it or leave it, but choose fast because once we go inside, the deal's off," Rum said quickly when Belle ducked under the wooden platform. "Hi," he tried, attempting to look like he wasn't up to something naughty (and failing miserably because she _knew_ him).

"Je ne comprends pas," she began, so upset it took his quizzical look before she realized she was mixing up her languages again.

"Understand?" Rum ventured. "you said… you _don't_ understand?"

"Yes," she said with a nod of relief, "I mean, yes, I said that, but I don't understand. Why is everyone so mean, and c'est une injustice!" Her foot stomped again in protest, and she scowled as the remaining kids around them scurried off to find something else to play.

"What's… an injustice?" Rum asked experimentally.

"The voting thing. You know it's… us?" she asked shyly, stumbling through the word before quickly pushing on, "And anyway, the other people are these girls at another school, and kids are saying mean things about them. And saying they want us to win because they're losers but meaner words. I don't like March Madness, everyone's so, so _mad_, and 'sides, it's April now anyways!"

Rum stuffed the rest of his loot into various pockets and led her out from under the platform. "But… we want to win."

Her brow scrunched up in thought. "We do?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Why wouldn't we wanna win?"

"But… that doesn't mean we have to say mean things. Do you know Faberry?"

He shrugged nonchalantly and kicked at the gravel.

"Did you tell them to vote for us?" she asked suspiciously, eyes narrowing.

"Maybe," he hedged, walking under the tube slide as she trailed behind him.

When she ran around a pole and stopped in front of him, it forced Rum to look up. "Rumm… rumble… Rum'al'stil'skin," she sputtered over the name, as angry with him as she was with the challenge of the syllables as her mouth tried to get them right. "What did you do?"

He shrugged again, then caved. "Maybe promised extra special stuff when they vote for us."

"Candy?"

"Extra tattoos," he sighed.

"Only when they voted for us?"

He dug his toe into the gravel and made a deeper and deeper rut.

"Rum?"

"Maybe for sneaking in extra votes."

"Stop," she insisted.

"But we could win. Don't you like winning?"

She shook her head, chestnut curls tumbling around her shoulders. "Not like that. And no more mean stuff, kay?"

He nodded and gave a little noise of surprise when she grabbed his hand and tugged him up onto the wooden castle beside her. They clambered up to the last landing before the line to the slide, and she nudged him.

"Make them listen," Belle insisted, waiting a few moments while he tried to shout for everyone to listen up.

"Hey!" David finally yelled, doing that tricky whistle with his fingers in his mouth that was loud and always hurt Belle's ears (but it made everyone look up). "They wanna say something important!"

"Yeah," Rum enforced, helping Belle step on the bottom long-ways slat on the railing so that she could step up a little and be seen over the edge.

Her eyes went a little big when she saw all of the kids staring up at her. Over to her left was that one girl—Regina—who smirked and was about to say something when Belle started. "So a lot of people are saying really mean things about people we don't even know. And it's not good. Thank you for voting for us, 'cause that's really nice. But stop saying bad things to me, stop saying bad things about them. Because we don't even know them. And they might be nice, and maybe they just want to win, too. And stop sneaking in extra votes."

"They sneak in extra votes, too," Anton cried in protest.

"It's still wrong, and I don't like it," Belle insisted. "And…so just stop. Everybody stop. And be _nice_. No more extra votes, right Rum?"

He scowled a little, mostly managing to turn it on the others. "No more extras. And if you make her mad, everything doubles," he added threateningly, which sent a murmur through the kids below.

"And… all," Belle finally finished, adding a hasty, "Merci beaucoup," before trying to unwedge her foot from its spot between two slats as she stepped down.

Rum knelt down, carefully working it free. "Okay?"

She nodded and gave a little huff as the emotions finally started to drain out. "Yeah," she answered, unable to stay angry or upset any longer when the corner of his mouth turned up into that almost-smile. "Thank you, Rum."

He gave her a real smile now and gave her cheek a quick kiss. "Anything for you."


End file.
